44 Unwersity Geological Survey of Kansas. 
all parts of the globe, many believe them to be fully as efficient 
when taken at the patient’s residence as when drunk at the 
spring. This I believe to be a mistake. A regular strict treat- 
ment, as it is enforced by the physicians of a well-regulated 
watering-place, cannot be carried on at home. Business, 
family, old habits of living, and, more often, divers irregu- 
larities of living, prevent the patient from adhering strictly to 
the rules prescribed for the use of the waters; he would not 
rise early in the morning for the sake of drinking a few glasses 
of water; afraid of neglecting his business, he would not spend 
several hours of the day for necessary exercise; nor would he 
wish to have the diet of the whole family changed on his ac- 
count, because the usual diet does not agree with the mineral 
water, and so on. Moreover, there are waters whose efficacy 
mainly depends on their natural high temperature. It would 
hardly be possible for the patient, however careful, to raise the 
heat of the bottled water every morning to exactly the same 
degree.”’ 
Action of Waters upon the System.—" If you drink a large quan- 
tity of water which is not instantly absorbed, you feel oppressed 
as by a heavy weight. but absorption generally commences as 
soon as the water is taken, and, if the stomach is empty, goes 
on very rapidly. The water is absorbed by the veins of the 
stomach and the intestines, but more by those of the former ; 
the secretion of the saliva, bile and urine is increased. The 
maximum of the absorption is reached about two or three hours 
after the water has been drunk, excretion by the kidneys being 
most abundant at that time. Water containing salts is not so 
rapidly absorbed as common water; the less salt it contains 
the more easily it is absorbed. The quantity of water which 
the stomach is able to receive and absorb is immense; persons 
are reported to have swallowed 200 and even 300 ounces of 
mineral water every morning for several weeks. The quantity 
of water in the blood varies according to the amount of water 
drunk and absorbed. A large quantity produces an expansion 
of the blood-vessels and an increase in the secretions of the skin, 
19. Gutmann, loc. cit. 
